Yesterday morning Brownie and I headed over to Mary's for a walk with a change of scenery.  He got pretty excited when he saw me pick up his water bottle, assuming (correctly) that like the leash it portended a walk.  While I had thought about throwing a sweater or jacket into the car for me, that didn't happen since it was approaching 10:00, the sun was shining, and there was no wind.  So I was surprised when the car radio announced just how frigid <g> it was (only in the low 50s!) with a high for the day only expected to reach mid 60s.  

When we arrived at Mary's Brownie was anxious to exit the car and get the fun started, though he finally realized I was not going to let him out until he had some water... so he finally relented and took the tiniest sip.  

After borrowing a sweater from Mary (and handing over the container of faro salad to go in her fridge; I'd just enjoyed a bowlful for my breakfast before heading over there) and chatting with the little boys (ages 3 and 5) across the street, who were extremely excited to show Mary the Christmas decorations their dad and grandpa were erecting on their front lawn, we were off around her neighborhood.  

With so many new smells for Brownie to investigate it was definitely a leisurely walk, with numerous stops, while she and I caught up on each other's Thanksgiving "gatherings" from the previous day.  Hers had been changing almost daily the week leading up to T-Day, and sure enough the latest plan had had to be changed.

When we'd finished exploring her neighborhood, still bundled up we sat in the sun in her backyard; I so enjoy the wide variety of plants she has back there.  Walking around I checked out her desert tortoises' preferred hibernation spots; one of them is burrowed in so deeply that even down on my hands and knees to peer into its tunnel I still couldn't see it, while the other one has chosen to remain right on top of the ground, under an up-ended laundry basket covered with a blanket.  Such different choices!

Brownie seemed a tad cowed by the 'conversations' from the dogs in yard next door, and the tall block fence kept them from interacting face-to-face. Those dogs did sound a bit unfriendly...

Later we headed in to have a light lunch, which was the perfect meal for the day after a big feast: grapes and cheese/crackers.  Brownie, who is starting to master the sad puppy dog look whenever food appears, had to settle for watching us eat - though I assured him I ate enough for the two of us.

I approved of Mary's new couch that had arrived last week, which is nice and comfy!  Brownie hung out by my feet and didn't do too much exploring of the house yesterday, though he had to know (smell? remember?) that cats lived there, right?  Since we never saw hide nor hair of them during our visit the cats obviously must have been well aware of the visiting pooch.  Or maybe they were just engrossed in a good book?

Since Mary had missed the dog show I pulled up the finals on her tablet for her viewing enjoyment, and she agreed that the winner of the Herding Group, a Miniature American Shepherd, was indeed a stunning specimen - and of course reminded our family of Sabra. 

Miniature American Shepherd

However it turned out that (unlike me) 

Mary also appreciated the dog that took Best in Show. 

I'd planned to sew in the afternoon after I returned home - guess how that went?

But (in theory) that will happen today....

  At least I correctly predicted last night's dinner menu....